Strife/Issue 04
Issue 04 is the fourth issue of Volume 01 of Strife, It was written by CamTheWoot and was published on June 25th, 2014. ---- Issue 04 Previous: Issue 03 Next: Issue 05 ---- Patrick ---- It had been perhaps an hour since the search party left. Rowena was still hard at work in her office and business went as per usual. Patrick sat alone in his surgery, with medical utensils scattered across his desk. He was halfway through nestling a glass of brandy he'd been saving. He starred at his watch and listened for it's ticking, before winding it. "Well now's a good a time as any,"'' he said to himself before getting up. He looked back at his surgery before leaving through the door, a tiny square room, with a leather chair and an operating table in the middle. "Hopefully I'll be out of work." "Good morning Pat," an Asian man said to him as he left his surgery. Patrick could recognize the man instantly, by the scar on his left eye. He was wearing a beanie to cover his straight, black parted hair. A sleeveless camo jacket covered his white t-shirt. and his jeans were far too large from him, almost covering his sandals. "OH," Patrick jumped "Oh, G-good morning Larson." "Take you by surprise? Sorry about that." He replied. "I rarely see you out now days, where are you off to?" "Oh- err, the supply room." "Run out of bandages or something eh?" "Yes, I need to pick to pick up a couple of kits, if Vincent finds Lawrence, he'll probably need patching up." "Yeah, I heard about Lawrence. Dude I'm really sorry." "It's fine, it's fine. He's probably just got lost. It happens." "Well you know where I am if ya' need me," he said patting Patrick on the shoulder. "Anyway, I got things to do, places to be, so I best go. Otherwise your big sister might send me to bed without dinner, you get me?" "Yes of course, sorry to keep you from your duties." "It's okay man," he said walking away. "I'll see you around, okay?" "Bye Larson," Patrick waved him away. He looked around for anymore unexpected accouters and continued en route to the supply tower. Looking around a corner at the entrance he saw two guards stationed outside. One being an old man, with no hair and a gaunt face. His pitch black eyes could pierce skin with one look, he was wearing a brown leather jacket, that he's zipped up to the top, black jeans and brown cowboy boots. The other guard was an Indian woman, wearing a zipped up black jacket, blue jeans and army boots. She had long black, curly hair that fell long past shoulder length. He approached the entrance. "Hold it Patrick," the old man held out his hand, halting him. "'Morning Mitch, am I allowed in?" "Well that depends son, do you have a permit from Rowena?" "Eer no, no I don't." "Then I suppose you're not allowed in." "Well Vincent came in only an hour ago, he didn't have a permit?" "Well I wasn't here an hour ago, Wayne and Duncan were. So excuse me son if I don't give a bloody fuck if your barmy brother was pissing up the wall!" "Alright Mitch calm down," said the woman next to him. "Piss off Jess," he replied. "Son, I'm going to give you three options here. One, you bugger off back to the nearest fag parade. Two, you go and get Rowena to write a little form for you, then you go in. Three, you go in without the form and I put a bullet in your leg and drag you out." Patrick sighed and walked away. ''I need to get in here," he thought "But how?". It was then he saw Larson off in the distance. That's when a new idea came to his head. ---- Rook ---- Rook lead the way through the broken city, he spied a sign reading "Cannon Street" as the five of them turned a corner. He could remember Cannon Street being an a better state last time he saw it, with St.John's cathedral in ruins, newspapers and other rubbish flying across the road in the wind. Every window had either been boarded up or broken, some a mix of the two, marking a grave for the ones who couldn't protect themselves well enough. He seemed to be the only one depressed by this though, Wayne and Duncan were fighting over a packet of crisps that Wayne found in a corner shop only a few minutes earlier. It was only natural that Vincent and Nancy were laughing at them. "Jesus Christ," said Rook "Are you two over going to shut up?" "Aw piss of ya' wazzock," rasped Wayne, fighting off Duncans arm, trying to grab the crisps from over his shoulder. "For fucks sake Duncan! I found these walkers, they're mine!" "You don't even like salt n' vinegar, ya' bender!" Duncan replied, struggling to get them off him. "C'mon man, let me have one!" "No, you bloody can't. You wanna know why? Cos' last week you found that can of Woodpecker, did you let me 'ave a sip? NO, no you didn't! So why should I be so nice?" "Aw, that's different! I wasn't gonna let you, slather your gob over the first can of cider I've laid eyes on in a year! I know where your mouth as been!" "Pfft yeah sure you do," he laughed, mockingly waggling his tongue between his middle and index fingers. "'Cos I have a girlfriend mate! You've got a latex glove and your imagination!" "'Ey every man is his own," Duncan shrugged. "If you wanna shag a bird who owns barbies with tits bigger than hers, that's your business." Over his shoulder; Vincent could hear Nancy giggling. Frankly he was surprised she got the joke. "Just leave my wanking glove out of it, and for the last time; give me a motherfucking crisp!" "Oh for God's sake," Vincent slid his hand down his face, wiping away the tired sweat. "Wayne just share your shitey food so we can actually look for my brother." "Oooh, is that an order or a request?" "It's a request, that comes with the promise of me shoving your crisps up your arse if you refuse." "Nah boss, that wont work." Duncan laughed. "He'd probably enjoy it." "Ugh, 'ere," Wayne sneered chucking the packet to Duncan. "Have fun mate, they're fuckin' stale." "Heh, like I give a shit," he said with a grin, as he placed several crisps into his mouth. "Oi, boss, Nancy. You want one?" "Yeah I'll have one," said Vincent taking two from the packet. Nancy waved them away with a smile on her face, that may have been the first time Vincent had seen someone elegantly turn down a stale crisp. "Rook, you want one?" he said, holding out the packet. "I'll pass." "Meh, your loss. So where are we searchi-" "Shh, shh. Guys." Rook whispered, signaling those behind him to crouch. "Shadows at eleven o'clock." "Oh for fuck's sake Rook." Vincent said as he got back to his feet. "There's two of them, shoot them if you want, your gun is in your purse next to your tampons." Vincent laughed as he unsheathed his short-sword and skipped over to the two undead, shambling towards them. He glided his sword through the neck of the first, spinning around and digging it into the head of the other. "Showoff," said Nancy, rolling her eyes. "Oh please," Vincent sheathed the sword once again, tightly gripping the tattered, brown leather handle. "Nancy, you're breaking my heart." He laughed jogging the corner, passing a sign reading "Bread Street", leaving the groups sight. "Jesus, Vincent." Rook mumbled. "Oh come on Rook," Nancy jived over his shoulder. "It's a couple of shadows, if two is enough to take you down, I'd shave to question how you made it thus far." "Doesn't mean he has to enjoy it so much." "Oh come on Rooky," Wayne laughed "Let the boss have his fun." Rook squinted, as through the piercing sunlight eh could see Vincent running back around the same corner. He was silhouetted by the light but as he came closer and closer, the look of fear expressed upon his face became clearer. "Vincent are you okay?" He asked. "Shit, shit, shit!" Vincent screamed running past them. "RUN THERE'S A FUCKING HORDE!" "A-a what?!" Nancy gasped looking around at the corner, which surely enough one of the undead passed around. Then another, then another. Until thirty had turned the corner. "Yep, let's go." Wayne said, as he turned around and ran, the rest of the group following him, ignoring the sign reading "Queen Street" as they turned the corner. The five on them backed up against a wall, Vincent closest to the corner. "Oh bollocks," he said looking around. "How many are there?" Rook questioned. "A hundred? A hundred and fifty? I don't bloody know, a shit ton." "Oh God - what are we going to do?" Vincent looked across the road, at the other side of the horde he saw the door, leading to his flat. "I know what we do," he grinned. "What's that?" Vincent unsheathed his sword, giving the four of them a quick wink. "We take the first step." And with that wink, he sprinted out of sight into the horde. With sweat dripping from his brow, he swung his sword at the first corpse that approached him, an old man in a tattered jacket, detaching the top part of it's skull. Then at another, this time a teenage girl, decapitating her without a second thought. He was almost laughing, swinging his blade at anything that approached him. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?!" Exclaimed Rook. "I'm going out there, he's going to die out there." Said Wayne before being held back by Rook. "And you're just going to follow him?!" "Then what do we do?" "We find a safe location we-" "ROOK," Vincent screamed with laughter in his wailing. He pulled his blade from the skull of one of the undead. "I'M FINE, JUST GO!" He turned around pushing another one over, and running to the door. He twisted the handle to find that it was locked, he quickly put the key in the lock and twisted it causing the door to swing open. He ran in and closed it behind him, not before giving the four of them a hasty thumbs up. "Jesus Christ, we need to find a place to sta-" Rook looked around, past the Mitchell's, but they were the only one's there with him. "Where's Nancy?!" The two of them frantically looked around them, scanning the area for their lost comrade. "Oh for fucks sake," Wayne sneered. "Sneaky bitch! I knew it, never trust someone with a London accent." "She must have followed Vincent in - but how?" Rook thought to himself. "Never mind her, there's nothing we can do. We need to find a safe place." ---- Vincent ---- Vincent gasped for air, quickly shutting the door behind him, leaning against it for support. "Bloody hell," he said looking into the desolate and untidy hallway. Blood was splattered up the walls, rubble and other rubbish was scattered across the floor, akin to leaves at the end of the autumn days Vincent so despised. "I think it's actually cleaner that before." Most of the door across the hall were either broken or boarded up, creating a clear image of what had happened here in Vincent's mind. At the end of the hall was and old stair case, two levels where you would forward up the set of stairs, then back from the direction you came up a new set. that's exactly what Vincent did with great care, as he feared only one misstep cloud send him careening through a hole in the staircase. Eventually he came to an oh so familiar site, the door to his flat, it the and old door, with flaked wooden green paint and a circular brass knocker in the middle. "Lawrence?" He called opening the door, he looked around the room and there in the corner, was something he never expected, "Holy shit." "V-vincent is that you?" A man was curled up in the corner, he looked almost identical to Vincent, like they were twins. His hair was shorter and neater, in he had a stern look on his face, he really commanded quite a presence, even in the state he was in. He was wearing a brown tweed jacket over a blue t-shirt, and dark brown chino's. "LAWRENCE" Vincent cried, kneeling down next to him. "How are you doing bro? The entire camps been in a right old tizzie about you, Rowena sent me out here to get you." "Rowena?" Lawrence questioned as he managed to get himself sitting up. "Yes, yes, I suppose she would. Vincent listen to me, we need to get back now!" "We can't, there's a horde of shadows outside the doors. I only just got in myself." "There's no chance of getting through?" "Trust me, I only just got in myself. How I'd get out carrying you is beyond me." "I see." "We best get comfy, we're going to be here for a while." "Yes quite. What should we-" Lawrence stopped himself, he noticed Vincent hunched over the kitchen counter. spying a metal lock box. "Lawrence... where did you find this?" He said, he checked the lock at the side, only to see that it had been opened. "Lawrence, I will ask you again... WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS?! DID YOU LOOK INS-'''" That's when he heard the click that would ruin his life, he turned around to see Lawrence, his own brother. Pointing a gun at him, shaking with his finger on the trigger. "I'm sorry, but you're not my brother and you never will be. The things I've seen today - '''you are a monster!" To be continued... ---- Characters ---- Vincent Myers Maurice Rook Patrick Myers Lawrence Myers Nancy Brodmir Wayne Mitchell Duncan Mitchell Larson Mitch Jess Rowena Myers (Mentioned) ---- Deaths None. ---- Trivia First appearance of Lawrence Myers. First appearance of Larson. First appearance of Mitch. First appearance of Jess. This issue is a re-write of Strife/Issue 04 (Original). Category:Issues Category:Strife Issues Category:Strife Category:Pestilence Category:CamTheWoot